The joy on the face of Chee Chen Leong shone through his smiles and grins as his mother carried him to a new wheelchair especially suited for children.
Chee aged 8, a Primary Two pupil from SK Semerah Padi was born premature and would never be able to walk normally but gave a wide grin as he was placed in the wheelchair saying, “I got legs now”.
Wearing a big grin throughout the afternoon, Chee who was able to communicate normally, said he had been waiting for the wheel chair since he was told of it. As both his legs were not growing at a normal size, he was too weak to walk and need his mother or father to carry him around.
Yesterday, Sarawak United Peoples’ Party Central Woman, Datin Jennifer Chee with Amy Tnay, Welfare Advisor and District Welfare chief, Lim Chiew Lian, who heard of Chee’s plight, applied for a child wheel chair from the PM’s department.
Although there was a slight glitch at piecing the wheel chair together, the women’s team, who is not used to doing it, took almost half an hour to get the chair propped up. All these while Chen Leong waited patiently.
The Woman’s team had last week gone to the house of Chee Ngew Min aged 45, and Ling Ai Ling aged 38, at Jalan Matang to understand their problem.
Ai Ling said Chen Leong was born 6 months premature in Johor when she and her husband were working there. She said she was never told of his deformed legs until she returned to Kuching and had him checked at the Sarawak General hospital.
At aged four, Chen Leong underwent an operation to separate his bow legs. A year later, he underwent another operation to straighten the legs.
Every morning, Chee sends his son to school and had to carry him in. He was placed in a special class and his fathers build him a chair in class where he could sit there more comfortably.
Ai Ling and her husband would use a motorcycle to send Chen Leong to school. His mother would carry him into the class. “Weighing 18 kilo now, I need to be bigger to have the strength to carry him around,” said the mother laughing.
Chee is self employed and Ai Ling worked as a marketing assistance in Satok.
Ai Ling said Chen Leong had asked her to bring him to have French fries this Saturday and go for a walk in the supermall there.
Otherwise, he would be a prisoner in his own house not being able to go for walks or outside as it was quite taxing for them to carry him around.
Chen Leong has also been undergoing physiotherapy in the Sarawak General Hospital. His mother said he had been a good boy and has been willing to take his daily exercise. He had told his parents that he wanted to be a footballer when he grows up.
Meanwhile, Tnay said anyone who need a child wheelchair could contact SUPP and they would assit them to apply from the PM’s department.
Tnay said the project is done to help the less fortunate and the poor.
